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South African police arrested 95 Libyan nationals in a raid on a suspected secret military training camp on Friday and authorities said they were investigating whether there were more illegal bases in other parts of the country.

The camp was discovered at a farm in White River in the Mpumalanga province, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Johannesburg, police said.

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National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said in a post on the social media site X that the Libyans stated they had entered the country on study visas to train as security guards, but police investigations suggest they have received military training.

The Newzroom Afrika TV news channel broadcast pictures of the site of the arrests, showing a military-style camp with large green and khaki tents set up in a row. Dozens of men were seen lining up as they were arrested. They were wearing civilian clothing.

Local government official Jackie Macie said investigations were ongoing and the owner of the farm would be questioned. He said authorities received information that there were similar secret camps near two other towns in Mpumalanga province.

The province borders neighboring countries Mozambique and Swaziland and is an area of concern for South African authorities with regards to illegal immigration.

Police and authorities have not said whether the camps are suspected of being connected to a particular group or conflict.

Macie said investigations would establish if there was a network of camps in South Africa and show “why they are here doing military training in our country.”

Police said the men may be linked to crimes reported in communities close to the farm in recent months.

“We have serious cases which have been opened with the police, including cases of rape and armed robberies, which complainants claim were committed by unknown foreigners who seem to be of Asian descent,” said police spokesman Donald Mdhluli.

“We take what we have found here today very seriously because we don’t know who was training them, what were they being trained for and why that training is happening here in South Africa. It may be a threat not only to South Africa but also to the entire southern Africa region.”

Police said the operation to arrest the Libyans and close down the camp began two days ago. Macie said the Libyan nationals had been in the country since at least April.

“The 95 individuals taken into custody are all Libyan nationals and are currently being questioned by the relevant authorities,” Mpumalanga acting provincial police commissioner Maj. Gen. Zeph Mkhwanazi said in a statement.

Mdhluli, the police spokesman, said the country’s security regulator had confirmed that the kind of training that appears to have been taking place at the camp was well beyond the scope of training for security guards.

“The kind of equipment we found here shows that there was intense military training taking place here. This was basically a military base.”

Travel was severely disrupted in Lille on Friday, one of the stations affected by the sabotage that hit major French rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Many passengers waited with hope that soon turned to resignation.

“We’ve been waiting since 10:38 a.m. for the 11:38 a.m. train, and now we’re just waiting for it to arrive at 2:08 p.m.,” said Delphine, one of the stranded passengers.

“It’s still quite a delay, and we’ll be even later since we’re on a secondary route. I work in Avignon at 9 p.m., so it’s going to be very, very tight. We have a concert tonight — will it even happen? This is all very confusing, and we don’t understand what’s going on.”

For one traveller, this was a rough start to the holidays. “The worst case would be if the train is cancelled entirely and we have to buy new tickets for next week. It would shorten our already brief vacation. That would be a huge problem,” said Hippolyte.

When asked if he had been informed of the delays, Hippolyte said he received the notification just before departure.

“At around 10 a.m. this morning, we were told we were an hour late and would be leaving at 1 p.m.”

“It just keeps getting later as the day goes on. Every time we approach the new departure time, it gets pushed back another hour and a half, or half an hour each time.”

A deliberate fire in a signal box about 60 km south of Lille caused the disruption on the northern high-speed line. Traffic was halted around 5 a.m. on Friday.

The recent acts of sabotage on the rail network highlight that the Olympic Games are turning France into a prime target.

The attack disrupted the transport system on the opening day of the Games, causing delays of up to two hours or even cancellations that affected hundreds of thousands of passengers nationwide.

Authorities in Paris have said they are deploying substantial human resources to counter any threats and to ensure the safety of the events.